This is an unofficial blog of news and info from Diamond Mountain University and Retreat Center which was founded by Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Dalai Lamas.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Lama Dome Dailies, Dec 12

From the noodle of Matt Gallup:

It’s difficult to summarize one day of work on the Lama dome. My man, john.e.o, tasted the rock we were digging out of the new drainage trench today. This is a normal thing to do up at the dome. I tasted the mud I was making for the bags one day. It seemed perfectly normal to do this. What’s this rock taste like? Is the mud ready? The connection to the project is very personal for those of us working on it.

Today, we had a few new arrivals. Karl Whiting came back to much applause. The man is as strong as a horse and a heart as big as his smile, which is huge and constant. He was sporting some new hard core work boots and a high tech back brace, or as Ben Kramer calls them, Man Girdle. Earle Birney came from Tucson. He comes four days a week and works in the big city the rest of the time. He put some serious hurt on the trench john.e.o and I were working on. Earle came in and started widening the trench, knocking down the walls with the jackhammer. At first, we resisted this but Earle is wise and the method to his madness became apparent by the end of the day. This trench will divert the water the seeps through the rock from uphill and ends up around the dome. Teddy Sczudlo showed up from out of nowhere. He’s formerly of NYC now of DC (Washington, that is) and he saw the video we made of the dome project in NYC. He decided to come and help us then and there. This project is kept rolling by people like Teddy; angels that just fly in and show up to help. I should mention that Teddy is totally awesome and to have him here is a treat.

Most of the crew was focused on making and putting up cob on the exterior walls. With so many people focused on this, about sixteen people, we made some serious progress. There are some beautiful curvy designs happening in the cob around the front door. I need to mention the doors. They are works of art. Dark mesquite wood and light oak with mesquite designs on both sides. There were hand made by Luke who lives down the road. An amazing guy who has volunteered a lot of time.

Allison made some Spanish rice and mildly spicy enchiladas for dinner with banana bread for dessert. Dinnertime in the kitchen yurt is so cozy and happy. Lots of laughter and warmth in there tonight. It’s like family time. Outside the moon is full and at it’s closest to the earth for the year. There’s a warm breeze coming in. A beautiful night. Wish you were here.